“Sonny,” he said, brow creasing, bemused.
“Sonny, can you take my hand?”
He glanced at Ophelia, then at my outstretched palm, wrapping his hand around it.
The effect was instantaneous—a sharp, painful feeling zapped through me. I jerked my hand back, something he tried to fight, but there was no way he was keeping a hold of me.
“Damn…” he groaned, rolling his head as if to loosen the muscles.
“No,” I said. “Definitely not.”
Sonny’s ecstatic expression was quickly dropped and exactly what I’d feared happened. His brows jerked down, a snarl forming on his lips.
“No,” I growled before he could. “And if you’re gonna give me attitude, get the hell out of my house.”
The permission granting had a point to it, I could now see. This was my turf that I could defend, control, and no one was going to take that away from me. Instead, others would rise to defend it for me, as here, this was my right.
“Fine,” he snapped out, then got to his feet and went to go.
“Present yourself at my offices tomorrow morning,” Ophelia said to him as he stalked past, but she got no answer other than a slammed door. She turned to the group. “If there’s anyone else feeling like they want to push things, leave now.” The other matriarchs stepped forward, providing a united front. “Your appearance here is a privilege, not a right.”
Things went more smoothly after that. Rather than offer tokens and speak the ceremonial words, I touched them to feel if I got a similar response as I had with Sen. Some were tickles, others slow, sensuous waves. One came from a gorgeous looking guy, Snowy they called him. His white blond hair stood out when he came forward, as did his pale blue eyes. His smile was mysterious, obviously feeling my eyes on him and liking it. He dropped to his knees, but there wasn’t a compliant bone in his body. His gaze, when he looked up, was pure mischief.
I knew how he’d feel before he even touched me, but I let it happen anyway. Sure enough, a great lick of pleasure slid over my body as his palm grazed mine, deepening with his touch. A moan escaped my lips against my will, making him grin, right up until it fluttered and the same feeling washed through him.
“Yes?” Aidan asked finally, breaking through the haze.
“I’m…not sure,” I gasped. I watched that smile falter for a moment. “I…”
“Tell him you want more time to explore things, if that’s what you want,” Peter said.
“Can I get permission to call on you?” Snowy asked.
“Sure…” I said, my mouth reluctantly making the sound. “But not when Kade’s here. Inside school hours only.”
He nodded and then got to his feet, swooping in to brush his lips against my knuckles before going back outside.
I was in a bit of a daze after that. While they were all gorgeous looking, I got only lukewarm responses or nothing at all from the rest. Except for Sen.
He’d hung back, watched the guys file in, and then again when they left, as if storing the information away for later. Then came his turn. When Ophelia called upon him, he strode forward, then dropped down to one knee.
“You know how we respond to each other,” he said, “so can I say the words?”
He needn’t. I’d already decided to give him a try, so this was just a foregone conclusion. But he needed to, I could see that as clear as the eyes on his face. Eyes that burned into me, waiting.
“Say the words, Sen,” I said, leaning forward and taking his hand. His other placed the tiny wolf onto my palm.
“Flick, daughter of Chloe, I ask that you accept this token as a symbol of my regard for you. I wish to start the petitioning process to join your pack. My deepest wish is that I will prove worthy and that I will take a place by your side. As part of my offer, I gift to you this carving, completed by my grandfather when he petitioned my grandmother’s pack.” He closed my fingers around it gently.
“Yes, Sen, I accept.” I looked at the tiny sculpture, the lines of the wolf showing it ready to hunt. “But this is precious—”
“All the better,” he said. He turned to the guys. “Peter, son of Lois, Aidan, son of Renee, do you approve my request to pursue your mate, to petition to be a part of your pack?”
“I do,” Peter said, holding out a hand to him and hauling him up to his feet. The two did that blokey back slapping thing.
“I do. It’d be good to have another set of hands around here,” Aidan said. “I’ve got a cool idea for a patio around the back—”
“Aidan!” I said. “You sure you want in on this, Sen?”